In German households, it is no longer just people who vacuum, mop and mow the lawn – there’s also ‘Grasi’, ‘Berta’, ‘Mähnfred’ and the ‘Staubinator’: 26 million people have a robot vacuum cleaner, window-cleaning robot or lawnmower at home. Of these, a third (33 per cent) have given their domestic robot a name. This is shown by a representative survey commissioned by the digital industry association Bitkom, involving more than 1,000 people in Germany.

Popular names for vacuum and mop robots include ‘Staubi’, ‘Saugi’ and ‘Robbi’. Lawn-mowing robots, on the other hand, go by names such as ‘Schleicher’, ‘Mr Green’ or ‘Grüne Gefahr’. There is also a difference between age groups. Among 16- to 29-year-olds who own such robots, 25 per cent have given their device a name, whilst the figure for 30- to 49-year-olds is 31 per cent. Among 50- to 64-year-olds, 40 per cent have given their robot a name, and among those aged 65 and over, the figure is still 41 per cent.

“The more autonomously technology operates, the more readily we attribute human characteristics to it,” says Nastassja Hofmann, Bitkom’s smart home expert. “A robot that moves around the home independently, reacts to its surroundings and carries out tasks seems to many almost like a flatmate.” Accordingly, 37 per cent of people who own a robot have already told their smart home device off, whilst 36 per cent say they sometimes thank it.

Note on methodology: The figures are based on a survey conducted by Bitkom Research on behalf of the digital industry association Bitkom. A total of 1,159 people in Germany aged 16 and over were interviewed by telephone, including 597 users of smart home applications. The survey took place between calendar weeks 23 and 28 of 2026. The survey as a whole is representative. The questions asked were: “Which of the following smart home applications do you already use in your household?”; “Have you given at least one of your robots a name?”; “Which of the following statements apply to you or, in your opinion, do not apply?”